U.N. sees internal answer to Yemen

An image grab taken from Yemen's state television shows Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh delivering a televised speech from the Saudi capital Riyadh on July 7, 2011 as he made his first TV appearance since he was wounded in an explosion at his palace in Sanaa last month. UPI/Ismael Mohamad. | License Photo

SANAA, Yemen, July 26 (UPI) -- Any solution to the political crisis in Yemen must come from inside the country, the U.N. special envoy to the country said.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has clung to power for much of the year despite mounting pleas for his resignation. He has refused to sign a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council that calls for an end to his decades' long tenure in exchange for immunity.

Jamal Ben Omar, the U.N. special envoy to Yemen, said the situation in Yemen is "very dangerous," adding the situation could become an international threat, Yemen's state-run news agency SABA reports.

Saleh has handed power over to his vice president while he recovers in Saudi Arabia from injuries suffered during a June 3 attack on his presidential compound. Rival opposition leaders have suggested they were beginning the steps needed for transition, though internal complications are hindering that development.

Omar said he witnessed a genuine desire among Yemenis to find a solution to the political crisis.

"The solution of this crisis is up to the Yemenis themselves and the solution will not come from outside," he said.